Page 77 of Succeeding Love

“I can tell you about it later. I told him off pretty good before shutting the door in his face, so hopefully it won’t happen again.”

That small explanation did nothing to quell my irritation, but I didn’t want to press her if she wasn’t ready to tell me.

“Can you text me when you’re ready to walk Kevin tonight? You can tell me then?”

She bit her lip and nodded. There was worry on her face, and all I wanted to do was kiss it away until she was giggling again. Then I wanted to go find her ex and put him six feet under.

I settled on kissing her, deeply but quickly, since the others were filtering out of the restaurant now.

“I’ll see you later.” I kissed her one last time before closing her door.

I stood on the sidewalk and waved back at her as she drove away. I had so many thoughts running through my head, many of them murderous. This need to protect Lynn from anything that could hurt her or make her unhappy was rising in me. I just wanted to deal with her issues and make them go away. Her having kids with this bastard was the only thing stopping me from landing my fist in his face the next time I saw him.

“You got a good one.” Milton stood beside me.

The others were already walking back towards the courthouse, talking among themselves and paying Milton and me no mind. It was just us after they crossed the street.

“I know I do,” I murmured. “So, how do you two know each other?”

He tensed a bit, and I felt I already knew the answer before he said it.

“Her ex-husband and I work together quite a bit.”

I nodded, since he was just confirming what I already assumed.

“He is still crazy about her. You know that, right?” Milton confirmed the other thing I had already picked up on.

“Oh, I figured. He lost her, though. That woman is mine.”

Natural Mom

Feighlynn

“Hey, guys!” I said excitedly, maybe a little too excited, as my kids walked through the door, just getting home from school. “I missed you!”

Preston gave me an odd look as I hugged Jessie. I tried not to read too much into it and kept up the upbeat vibe.

“I’ve got dinner in the oven! Meatballs!”

“Yay!” Jessie cheered and giggled as she skipped up the stairs.

Preston hung back, still staring at me. “Everything okay, mom?”

I frowned at the question. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because,” he scrutinized me again, “you’re hyper. Something happened.”

I couldn’t deny something happened, but I also wasn’t ready to talk about it, especially with my kids.

“Go put your stuff away,” I murmured, busying myself wiping down an already clean counter in my kitchen.

“Everything okay with Vin?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?” I replied.

Preston raised an eyebrow at me. “Because you’re acting weird.”

“You’re acting weird,” I retorted. “Go put your stuff away. Bring your game stuff down so it can soak in the basin before dinner.”

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